Renault has received a stern warning from the Global New Car Assessment Programme (Global NCAP) over a “serious misinterpretation of crash test results appearing in Renault advertising.”
The vehicle safety authority pointed out in an open letter that a Renault advertisement (seen above) in Uruguay makes it seem that its third-gen Renault Megane has a five-star rating by the European New Car Assessment Programme (Euro NCAP).
Global NCAP explains that Euro NCAP results for the Megane should not be used in Latin America because the region has its own independent NCAP body. Latin NCAP has been operating and testing cars from Latin America for the last five years now.
The Renault Megane has never been tested by Latin NCAP, and Global NCAP secretary general, David Ward, writes that there is no certainty that the Megane sold in Latin America will in fact earn a five-star safety rating. Ward continues to say that the advert is therefore “highly misleading to car buyers.”
The Global NCAP secretary general requested that Renault withdraw the advert immediately and issue an apology to Euro NCAP for misusing their results. He also recommended that Renault provide a Latin America-spec Megane to Latin NCAP for an accurate safety rating for the region.
“Misuse of NCAP ratings not only confuses the public it also is unfair to your competitors, particularly those companies that have earned five-star ratings in Latin NCAP,” wrote Ward in his letter to Renault chairman and CEO, Carlos Ghosn.
“Your corporate website is proud to highlight the number of five star results the company has obtained from Euro NCAP but entirely ignores Latin NCAP. Perhaps this is because Renault has yet to achieve a single five-star result for any of its models sold in Latin America. So rather than publishing misleading adverts would it not be better for Renault to try to achieve its own first genuine five-star rating in Latin NCAP?” he concludes.
To avoid similar confusion in Malaysia, Carbase.my, our sister site and database for all new cars in the country, offers Euro NCAP, ANCAP and ASEAN NCAP safety ratings and full reports for all new cars sold in the country, where available. Carbase.my also makes it clear when models tested have more safety equipment compared to the version sold in Malaysia.
Looking to sell your car? Sell it with Carro.
If manufacturers are selling the same spec-ed car as the one tested, what’s wrong with using that test result? the real reason is Global NCAP wants Renault and other companies to give them a few cars to crash test & a butt load of money.
So gweilos oso ask for ‘donation’?
If like this, Proton will be behind bars. When Waja was launched, Dr M said it was the BMW of Asia. He said it would put BMW to shame. Infact he said Waja was better in quality than BMW.
I think BMW need to also write to Proton and Dr M for false advertising.
Let assume the nameplate and the safety kit is similar, that doesn’t the car is identical. Cars are not manufactured at single location. The reason why NCAP need to be establish regionally, is because of the nature of car being manufactured at different location. Each factory have different capabilities, especially on chassis. Not all factories can fabricat UHSS steel, an also for reason of cost and market requirement, some automakers will not use UHSS. Especially on emerging markets where there is no strict requirement for the local government, most automakers will not follow similar safety guideline from UNECE.
They all mislead u some way or another, classic case is when they advertise their FC figures… Which no human can achieve…
Not entirely true. The Prius actually has FC figures that are lower than real life figures achieved by reviewers.
Renault should also be sternly warned for advertising price in US dollars when each Latin American country has its own sound currency.
Hopefully no more Proton news.
i know Chevrolet Malaysia certaily put Euro NCAP ratings in its brochures, saying Cruze has 5 star.
the real fact is – all Chevrolet cars sold in malaysia has only 2 airbags, except the Malibu. which has 4.
With takata airbag install maybe end up no more star